Tel Aviv-Yafo

Ramallah

Jerusalem

Sheikh Jarrah

Gush Etzion

Hebron

J585 ITINERARY 2010

FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 2010: ORIENTATION

Greet, Meet and Eat

Location: St. Mark's Lutheran Guest House

SATURDAY, MARCH 13: SETTING THE SCENE

Morning Old City Tour – Where History Meets the Present participants gains a deeper understanding of the centuries-long longing for Jerusalem by the diverse groups of people living here today.

Guide: Avi Cohen

Jerusalem since 1967 with Ir Amim—Walls as Policy

Ir Amim provides private tour of historical, geographical, political, urban, economical and social developments in Jerusalem since 1967 including the separation barrier. Meet with Palestinian residents of Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah.

Starting Location: Gan HaPa'amon

The Conflict and Security

Leading Israeli journalists discuss the major security and military issues facing Israel as they relate to current developments in the Israeli-Arab conflict.

Citizen Reporting – B'Tselem's Camera Project

"Citizen reporting" of human rights violations and injustices has become an important part of documenting conflicts through a screening of videos taken by citizen reporters, learn about how Palestinians living in high-conflict areas with video cameras expose and seek redress for violations of human rights.

Location: B'Tselem's Offices, Jerusalem

Speaker: Sarit Michaeli, Communications Director, B'Tselem

Women in the Settler Movement

Women settlers discuss the grassroots movement to keep what they believe is Greater Israel.

Location: Ama'ri Refugee Camp

Issues Facing Palestinian Citizens of Israel

Also referred to as Palestinian-Israelis, this group is Israel's largest minority population and faces a broad range of discriminations that impact their health, education, human rights and economic status. Learn about the issues from leading experts in civil society:

Location: Al-Babour Restaurant, Wadi Ara

Intersection between Islam, Gender and Modernity

Meet with traditional Muslim women studying at the teacher's college to understand the challenges and opportunities they face as religious, young women.

Location: Al Qasemi Islamic Teacher's College, Baka al Gharabiya

Media as a Battlefield

Meet with some of Israel's leading bloggers and media analysts exploring the recent attack on civil society activism and freedom of speech launched against the New Israel Fund and other related human rights and activists' organization.

Location: BenOr Offices, Tel Aviv

FRIDAY, MARCH 19: TEL AVIV– PREPARING FOR THE SABBATH: INTERVIEWS WITH ISRAELIS

One-on-One with Communities in Israel

This interactive component allows participants to work in the field and meet with the common person "on the street". The group divides into pairs and each pair is assigned a different neighborhood in the Tel Aviv area on a Friday morning when people have their final hours before the Sabbath rolls in. Students are sent to interview people on the various topics they've encountered throughout the trip as well as how different people are "preparing for the Sabbath".

Neighborhoods include:

Jaffa - old Arab city adjacent to Tel Aviv that has been undergoing gentrification and now home to mixed population of Jews and Arabs.

Sheikh Jarrah – An East Jerusalem neighborhood that is the site of tensions between Arab residents and Jewish settlers. On Friday afternoons, Israeli leftists join Arab residents for a non-violent protest against the Israeli government policy that permits Jews to take over Palestinian homes.

Welcoming the Sabbath - Kabbalat Shabbat

Beit Tefilah, a young, alternative spiritual community, offers a new option for Shabbat. The services combine live music, modern poetry and literature with the traditional prayer book. Participants and members are singles and families seeking to make Judaism culturally and socially relevant for an urban 21st century community

Location: Tel Aviv Port – Beit Tefilah Israeli

Shabbat Dinner with Beit Tefilah Congregation

Participate in a communal Shabbat dinner with the Beit Tefilah congregation.

Location: Tel Aviv Port – Beit Tefilah Israeli

SATURDAY, MARCH 20: TEL-AVIV AND JAFFA – CULTURAL CENTER

Gay Community in Tel Aviv - from the Margins of Society to the Public Sphere

Film Viewing: Gay Days

In 1985, only a handful of Israeli gays were "out," a dozen years later several thousand had joined them. During this dramatic period, Israeli gays formed a movement that transformed the nation's understanding of gender, sexuality and family. Watch a documentary that examines this peaceful revolution and then meet with its director and young gay activists.

Panel Discussion: Neal Levy, Moderator; Yair Qedar, Director, Gay Days and Founding Editor of The Pink Times, Israel's first GLBT newspaper; Avner Dafni, Executive Director of Israel Gay Youth; Noa Raz, Development Director of Israel Gay Youth; Members of the Israel Gay Youth - will discuss the recent shooting at the youth center which killed two and wounded several young people at their weekly support group

Specialized Reporting:The J585 Class

Religion, Politics and Gender (A Case-study in Israel-Palestine)

Even after weeks of reading, writing and discussing religion and politics in Israel, nothing prepared us for the moment when the airport bus dropped us inside Jerusalem’s Old City. Punchy after a 14-hour plane ride, we dragged duffle bags and camera equipment through narrow, cobblestone streets.

Tripping up and down the winding pathways, we eventually found the Lutheran Guest House, whose Jerusalem stone and colorful tile reminded us that we were not in Los Angeles anymore. Several hours later, a muezzin’s pre-dawn chant roused most of us from sleep. To our jetlagged dismay, no array of bed pillows could stifle that persistent, auditory jolt of religious authority. We would soon be up and around, ready to begin an intensive schedule of interviews, travel and reporting.